Remote Ops

Remote Ops Session convened and facilitated Judith Dixon Economic Development Officer Northern Australia Development and Trade Department of Trade, Business and Innovation Northern Territory Government Picture by Ting Ting Sing

Remote Ops 2017 was a big success.

Remote Ops is an unconference for anyone who wants to get stuff done outback

Participants met on April 6th 2017 in Alice Springs and talked about working on the edge. Discussions centered around Remote Australia, isolation, space and openness to achieve new things.

We looked both inwards to Australian practice and outwards to the future, new horizons and away from ‘normal’ ways of thinking and doing. Queer things happen out back; there is an abundance of weirdness, independence and strong self-reliance which supports trailblazing and experimentation.

The Remote Ops event used a combination of structured presentations and scheduled open space sessions to ensure time for both provocations and conversations.

It was a full day with delicious food from Reality Bites Catering and great work from the Red Hot Unconference team Charmaine Kik, Andrew ‘Cookie” Cook and MC Sarah ‘Hooper’ Cook of Circosis.

Here’s what some of the participants had to say about their experience:

That we as a group of people and no doubt lots of others in this town have a good toolkit for thriving in a remote setting. … … I hadn’t thought about it in that way before and it made a lot of sense looking at what we do through that lens.

I found myself gaining new perspectives and different ways of thinking about the same old problems. It was also really valuable being in a group that was not exclusively arts sector based. It was refreshing and healthy for my thinking to be part of conversations from a broader community development, health, government, town planning perspective. Come! Share and learn. It’s really healthy to step out of your busy bubble for a day, look up and see what else is happening and connect with others.

Mary Jane Warfield – Regional Arts Fund Manager

How do you start a community initative? David

High Flow human spaces and systems – MJ and Ben

What can we do to activate the Todd Mall and CBD – Judith

Arts Practice as an approach to achieving social change – Jason

Drones; Why? What? How? Where? – Felicity

Corruption -> Governance -> Assimilation – John

Choosing Peerness vs Competition – Barb

How do you build relationships with people you have never met? – MJ

Digital platforms and the potential for remote storytelling – Caddie

No nation can defend itself unless it occupies its own space – John

Curation + Context What do you apply your resources to to help make your context an asset, not just a restriction? A discussion about applied curation, impact, scope and focus in a remote context. – Alex Kelly